Ultimate Fighting Turks
by Count D'Ainiac
Summary: Reno encourages Rude to make a little extra money on the side by doing what he does best: punching people in the face
1. Chapter 1

This story will be made up of lots of small chapters, so I can update regularly despite being so busy! Hope you enjoy!

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"…I'm not sure I'm comfortable with this."

"What? Stop being such a girl! You were born for this, just like I was born to please the ladies!"

"…"

"…what does that mean?"

"…nothing." Rude, despite himself, almost smiled. He stepped out of the van, Reno jumping out of the passenger seat beside him, not before giving him the most evil of eyes. A cigarette hung limply from his shorter friend's mouth. He puffed on it one final time, before dropping it to the floor and crushing it beneath his boot.

"Yeah, well, fuck you man. I don't see the ladies crawling all over you at the bars. So fuck you." Never had someone so offensive in his words been so charming (in his own special way, that was) as Reno, Rude noted. Despite their constant, often one sided bickering (Reno could have an argument with his shadow. And lose), Rude had always been grateful of the man's friendship throughout the years. Today though, he wish he hadn't have picked up his phone.

They were in Junon, still the biggest city on Gaia due to Midgar's incomplete nature and Edge still growing. They were not in the upper city though, as they had always tended to hang out, but were instead in the village below. It would be cruel to call them slums. Post-meteor, greater efforts had been made to accommodate the residents of the former fishing village, and Rude would even go as far as to say it looked almost quaint. Almost. Perhaps though he was being biased, because of the building they were standing in front of.

It was a pretty non-descript hunk of brick, much unadorned except for a sign above the doorway. The sign read 'Zangan's gym'.

"Well, what d'ya think? Huh?" Reno poked him with his nightstick, right in the ribs, forcing Rude to pay attention.

"It's…different."

"Hey," Reno sighed, "I thought you would have wanted somewhere a bit inconspicuous. Besides, this guy's meant to be the best."

"…like that bar was meant to be the best?"

"Can you leave it alone about the goddamned bar? I said I was sorry okay? How was I meant to know they had family killed by the Turks?"

"heh"

"…fuck you man. Come on, let's get inside before we're arrested for loitering," Reno grinned, and strode inside. Rude shook his head in slight despair, and followed him inside. It was a lot nice within than it was without. It was mainly one, large spacious room, which was divided into three parts: crash mats and punching bags to the far left, weights and machines on the near right, and in the centre was a sizeable ring. Behind the ring, Rude could see another doorway, which he guessed led to some locker rooms. It was early morning, but still the gym was not empty, with a couple of guys pushing hard on the weight machines. Still, Rude thought, this place probably didn't see a lot of custom, considering the average citizen of lower Junon.

"Hey Rude, over here!" Rude followed his partner's voice him standing next to an old man. This was not just any old man however. This was a man who gave off an aura, like he wasn't to be messed with. He stood fairly tall, despite a slightly crooked back and that he held a steel walking stick in his left hand. He was looking at Rude, seemingly curious. Rude looked straight back. "This here's Zangan himself!"

"Nice to meet you." Rude strolled forward to shake the man's hand. Zangan responded in kind, returning the handshake with surprising strength, which surprised Rude.

"Hey. Name's Zangan. Your friend here," he gestured towards Reno, who gave a mock bow behind Zangan's back, "said you wanted to learn how to be a professional boxer."

Rude just shrugged.


	2. Chapter 2

"Go on Rude!" "Hit him again!" "Yeah, right on the button!" "Fuck him up Ruuuude, Fuck him up!"

Rude merely grunted as he blocked another couple of jabs with his arms, stepping back slightly at the force of the blows. Reno was cheering him on from outside the ring with unbridled enthusiasm, despite the fact that Rude and his opponent were only sparring. The man across from him, who threw a left hook that almost landed on Rude's chin, was one of Zangan's best students. A native of Icicle Inn, and a pale, dark haired man, he was slightly shorter and thinner than Rude but he packed a punch. Rude could see, as a glove-covered fist jabbed into his left shoulder, why Zangan rated him.

However, Rude was holding his own. Seeing an opening, he switched his weight to his right foot and threw a short, sharp, right-left-right combination. The first two hits were blocked, but the last one found its way through to connect with the man's headguard. The man was stalled for a second, and Rude went to throw a big right hook…

"…that's all for now gentlemen!" Rude pulled his punch, as Zangan, who had been watching silently from outside the ring, spoke out. The old trainer slid his walking stick into the ring, before pulling himself up by the bottom rope, and stepping slowly into the ring. Both Rude and his opponent stood relaxed, whilst Reno complained about the abrupt stoppage on the outside, to which no one listened.

"He's good coach. Blocked most of my hits and gave me a few." Rude's opponent, Wade, spoke up. "Not many can do that straight up." Zangan acknowledged his pupil, but stood still and silent for a moment, looking at Rude.

The Turk was almost unrecognisable from normal. Instead of his trademark blue suit and shades, he was instead wearing long, navy shorts, a white vest top and boxing gloves, as well as a black head guard which Reno had taken the piss out of him for. His eyes were uncovered, so he had the difficult decision of where to look whilst Zangan stared him down.

"…you know, I have a problem with the ShinRa." He finally acknowledged, taking his eyes from Rude and staring up at the ceiling, his eyes looking at something Rude couldn't see.

"Hey, join the club pal. We aren't exactly showered with roses everywhere we go…" Reno piped up, as he too entered the ring, jumping nimbly over the top rope. "We sometimes get showered with other things though…"

"…I'm sorry." Rude said, quietly, ignoring his partner. "May I ask why?" The question was genuinely curious.

"I was in Nibelheim when it burned. I imagine you know about that." Rude nodded, and Reno swore softly under his breath as that awful affair was brought up once more, seemingly significant to so many they met. "I was training a young girl there. She was wounded by that psycho freak Sephiroth. I managed to get her medical health and bring her to Midgar, but ShinRa took everything from her. Directly or indirectly."

Rude and Reno exchanged glances. They had a feeling they knew who Zangan was referring to, but they kept quiet for now. They didn't want to inform the old man that they may have repeatedly fought one of his pupils. And that Rude may have at some point had a crush on her.

"We're sorry for that. We can't pretend we didn't do some bad things when we worked with ShinRa." Rude bowed his head to the man, tactfully omitting they still worked somewhat for Rufus Shinra, on a somewhat part-time basis. "We were Turks after all. Those days are behind us now. We're repentant."

"Mostly." Rude glared at his partner, who chuckled. Zangan remained silent. Wade's eyes however widened.

"You mean I just fought a Turk?!" He whistled softly. "Damn, I feel a hell of a lot better that I took a beating now!"

"Nah you shouldn't, Rude was holding back." Reno grinned widely. "He's not used to fighting with rules. Or with gloves. Or with headguards. Or not to knock someone out. He's adjusting."

"…" That heavy silence came from the other three men. Reno's grin faltered a little. After a moment, however, Zangan seemed to come to some sort of conclusion in his mind, and turned back to Rude.

"Well then I'll take your word for it. I'll teach you how to fight for the ring, master Rude. Then we'll see." The old man turned on his heel, white hair flowing, and exited the ring, in a more spritely fashion than you would expect. The other three men stood there without reacting for a second, before Rude allowed himself a small smile, and Wade loudly challenged Reno to a fight.


	3. Chapter 3

_This is what my life has come to. This. THIS._

Tseng sat, head in hands, as he tried to drown out the noise opposite him. He would have thought on a helicopter the only noise would be the whirr of the engines. That had certainly been the case every other time he'd been on a 'copter. Heck, even when he was flying away from a collapsing sector 7, all he'd heard was the whirring. He missed the whirring. It was nice.

Instead, the predominant sound was across from him, as the woman opposite him was admonishing her poor assistant. This woman. This WOMAN…Tseng liked to think he was someone who believed in equality. Maybe not economic equality, it wouldn't quite fit with having worked for ShinRa, but certainly equality between the races and the sexes. He did have some Wutai-blood after all, and he'd always respected women based on their character, and not bringing in the fact that they were a woman (or a man) at all.

Tseng had always been notorious amongst the Turks for his patience and his fine language. Whereas Reno had a mouth like…well…Cid, and a temper as fiery as his hair, and Rude had a habit of swearing when he did say anything, and Elena wasn't exactly the most patient of people when working…Tseng had always been respected (well, except by Reno) for these qualities.

So it was definitely a sign that all that was running through Tseng's head was:

_You bitch. You fucking bitch. _

She reminded him of Scarlett, in far too many ways. In fact, Tseng couldn't be sure that they weren't somehow related, or that god forbid Scarlett hadn't met her…unfortunate end…at the hands of Cloud and company in her stupid contraption. This woman, however, was not Scarlett. She was high up in the WRO, some consultant or something. She had introduced herself to Tseng as they'd boarded the helicopter taxi, which was taking them both to Junon from Edge. Her for a meeting apparently, and him to get away from work. She had been all sickly sweet, knowing who he was, all prim and proper in her grey pinstriped suit and tied back brown hair. Tseng didn't know her age, but he was tempted to ask. And then guess. Guess a higher number than he thought. The idea amused him, but instead he sat there, head in hands. The woman had actually broken off mid-stream in her rant to ask him what the matter was, that same tone she'd introduced herself with returning for a split second, and he'd waved it off, claiming a headache. It was partly true. Her voice was causing him great pain.

He just felt sorry for the assistant. A slip of a girl, probably no older than early twenties, with big, bright green eyes and short black hair. She looked pale, and tired, and terrified of the woman next to her as she was shouted at for various things, most of which Tseng guessed weren't actually her fault. She reminded him slightly of Elena when she had first joined the Turks. Bright-eyed, eager to impress, but somewhat over her head. He allowed himself a slight smile knowing how successful she'd turned out to be. He hoped the same for this girl. It did remind him though of how much he missed Elena. She was off in Wutai, making enquiries for Rufus. Somehow he felt it wasn't going to be a successful trip.

After what seemed like an age, the Helicopter finally touched down in Junon. Tseng let the woman disembark first, although it seemed she had forgotten his existence entirely, and as soon as she got off the helicopter he saw her pull out her phone and start yelling at somebody else. Sighing, he drew himself up, straightened his tie, and jumped of the 'copter. He looked around. It was mid-afternoon, and the sun was still up in the sky. Even so…

He took out his own phone, punched a few buttons, and waited.

"…Tseng." It was a statement from Rude, not a question. The man always checked his call ID.

"Hey Rude. You're in Junon at the minute right. Any chance…?"

"…the usual place. We'll make sure a drink is ready for when you get here. Reno will pay." Tseng heard a brief exclamation in the background before the phone went dead. Chuckling to himself, Tseng began to walk into the city. So much for small mercies. God he needed that drink.


End file.
